Baby come back, any kind of fool could see,
There was something in everything about you.
Baby come back, you can blame it all on me,
I was wrong, and I just can’t live without you.

“Baby Come Back”, the break-through single for the band Player (and only number one hit of their career) is exactly how we feel here at TWIR. Thanks to all of the “where have you been?” e-mails, we ARE back, and we certainly can’t live without our loyal readers. So let’s get rolling with a look at a few of the events/races that are scheduled for the weekend of Saturday, September 18, 2010 and Sunday, September 19, 2010.

We begin in Cleveland, Ohio with the 2010 USATF 24 Hour National Championship, the North Coast 24-Hour Endurance Run (Saturday at 9:00 A.M.). The event is held on a loop of just under 1 mile in Cleveland Lakefront State Park/Edgewater Park. The top 3 men and women from the 2009 edition of this event were eventually selected for the World Championship 24 Hour Run National Team – Phil McCarthy (151.49642 miles), John Geesler (139.39647), Dan Rose (139.22641), Jill Perry (136.29726), Anna Piskorska (132.24712), and Debra Horn (128.92083). McCarthy, Perry, Piskorska and Horn are all slated to return in 2010 (see current entrant list).

The inaugural Pine to Palm 100 Mile Endurance Run (Saturday at 6:00 A.M.) is a remote, rugged point-to-point 100-miler that traverses the Siskiyou Mountains Range in Southern Oregon. With a 34-hour cut-off, it starts in Williams, Oregon, then winds its way east to Ashland, Oregon. The course is a mixture of single-track trail, dirt road, and a little less than 4 miles of pavement, and includes over 20,000 feet of climb/loss with 3 “epic climbs to 7,000 feet” (and sick views of Mount Shasta and Mount McLaughlin). This 100-miler already boasts some top entrants, including, among others, Swan Crest 100 Mile winner Eva Pastalkova, Cascade Crest 100 Mile 2nd place female Shawna Tompkins, Yassine Diboun, Amy Sproston, Evan Hone, and Jenn Shelton.

The Chimera II 100k / 100 Mile (Revenge of the Ultrarunner) Trail Race kicks off on Saturday (6:00 A.M.) from Bluejay Campground in the Cleveland National Forest (El Cariso, CA). The 2010 course is more difficult than the one run in 2009 and contains more single-track trail. It starts with a technical 9 mile loop out of Bluejay Campground, then takes runners on a series of climbs and descents in, over and around the Saddleback Mountains.

The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Midwest Regional (Madison, Wisconsin, Saturday at 5:00 A.M.) is held on “an ideal course layout for elite speedsters and those taking their first strides in the world of trail ultra-running.” Run-able from start to finish (provided you have trained hard enough), the event is located 60 miles east/southeast of Madison, in the southern reaches of Kettle Moraine State Park. A significant portion of the course covers the Ice Age Trail. “The forested area, massaged by monstrous glaciers many millennia ago, contains wake-up-call hill climbs of 200-300 feet and enough undulating terrain to challenge even those granite-legged mountain runners.” The course is 80% single-track, with slightly wider, equestrian sections sprinkled in between. This is the “least technical” of all of the Endurance Challenge courses.

How about a PCTR event? Of course – the Redwood Park 50k, 30k, 20k and 10k (Saturday at 8:30 A.M.) in Redwood Regional Park (Oakland, CA). The course travels through beautiful Redwood Regional Park, with spectacular views along the East Ridge and East Ridge trails, and winds through tall redwoods on the popular Stream and French Trails. You can expect to find the usual fully-stocked PCTR aid stations. 50k course records are held by Leif Kohler (3:50:45 in 2006) and Caitlin Smith (4:11:52 in 2009).

There are plenty of other events taking place this weekend as well, including the following (check out each race web-site for more details):

The TNF Endurance Challenge is a lot harder than they make it sound, at least to a novice runner like myself. I ran the 10K several years ago, admittedly in terrible shape, but it seemed like more than undulating hills. Beautiful location and top-notch race direction make it a worthwhile event.

However, for the Wisconsin 50 miler, the description is dead on (I assume it would be the same for the 50k, too). It’s a good race for someone running their first 50 miler or 50k. The rolling terrain is "gentle" and provides just enough hills to utilize various muscle groups, but not too much that you'll blow out your legs. The trails were nice and soft (not too packed), no technical stuff to speak of, and I was shocked at how well they drained (it poured the day before, yet there was no real mud to worry about when we raced).

It is a very “fast” course.

You should give the 50m a try ;)

The course was beautiful and I couldn't agree with you more! I hope to one day make it back "into the Kettle"!!

Also the Equinox Marathon and 50k is this weekend up in Fairbanks Alaska. It is an amazing race and needs to be on everyone's bucket list of race to run sometime in their lives. Fairbanks is really beautiful this time of year.

I am going up to Cleveland to crew for a good friend on Saturday. First though I am racing the Mountwood Trail Challenge; a ten mile trail race near Parkersburg, West Virginia.

I am very much looking forward to having a front row seat at the 24 hour race in Cleveland to watch some of the elite ultra runners up close in action. I would love to see what Anton or Geoff could do there. I am also hoping to see Scott Jurek return there. He raced there last year but was not in his best form at the time. Amy Palmeiro-Winters is registered to run. I would love to have the opportunity to meet her as I am a big fan of hers.